Meeting of the minds

Play explores make-believe encounter between Picasso, Einstein

By Julie Baxter, Enterprise Staff Writer
May 3, 2006

Imagine Picasso and Einstein as ordinary guys.

Imagine you don't know their names and they have yet to forever change the worlds of art and science.

Now imagine they meet in a Paris bar, two ordinary guys on the cusp of greatness. Can you imagine what they would talk about?

The Theater Company of Lafayette can help fill in the blanks if your imagination falls short.

Director Ian Gerber calls it a "comic, fantasy fable." Actor Patrick Collins calls it "hyper-reality." They both call the script by funny man Steve Martin smart, witty and clever. Many others involved with the show do, too.

"These people did exist, this place did exist, it's just elevated to the level of fantasy," said Collins, who plays Einstein. "I find the idea of these two minds meeting, conversing and sketching out ideas ... fascinating."

Key to the clever script is pushing aside all the iconic ideas of the two, Gerber said.

The characters, including Picasso and Einstein, show "frustration, love, envy, pettiness," he said. "Is there any documentation they were like that? Not really, but they're human."

It might sound daunting to play such historically revered figures as ordinary guys, but Collins said there was no added pressure in playing Einstein.

"The character is just a human being, right before he becomes Einstein," he said. "There's a lot of leniency and openness. He's a normal guy."

Picasso, too, is just an average Joe in the play. Actor Matt Ellison, said he wasn't daunted by the role but still respected it and did his homework.

Gerber did his homework, too, and in turn gave his 10 actors a little light reading.

"I gave the cast a whole packet on the time period and the people to read about. I wanted them to know the people and then forget about it and make it their own," he said.

Studying up doesn't spoil any of the fun, though. Collins said actors were laughing out loud as they gathered around a table and read lines.

Funny doesn't mean mindless, though. Sally Clodfelter, who plays Germaine, said the play is a thinking person's piece of theater. But before you let that scare you, Collins said entertainment comes first — the thoughts it provokes are a bonus.

He raved about the parallels Martin draws between the worlds of art and science.

"The writing is such a fantastic bit of writing," Collins said. "I guarantee an hour and half with us is better than watching an hour and a half of TV."

Ellison can relate to Collins' enthusiasm for the writing. He's been in the play once before, while a theater major at the University of Idaho, and auditioned for his first Theater Company of Lafayette show just to be a part of it again.

"What don't I like about this play?" he asked rhetorically. "I went out just to be involved, I didn't really care which role I got. It's a very clever play."

Gerber, too, has had a long love affair with Martin's work, which was inspired by Picasso's painting of the famed Paris bar. He saw the original production when it opened in Chicago in 1993 and has been waiting for his chance to direct it.

"The themes are love, pursuing goals and perfection, the growth of human kind in the 20th century," he said.

Those themes transcend knowledge, or a lack thereof, of Picasso and Einstein's accomplishments, he said.

"If you know art and science, or you don't, you're still going to love it," Gerber said.

Get a piece of the show

Artist Sarah Spencer has recreated three paintings for the Theater Company of Lafayette's production of "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," including Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" and a beach scene by Matisse. The third is a landscape that hung above the bar at the Lapin Agile in Paris. The works are part of a silent auction for the nonprofit theater group and will be awarded after the May 13 performance.

Spencer, an artist who paints recreations and murals for a living and does set design for the theater company, said she felt a bit pressured by recreating paintings for the show — not because of their difficulty, but because she wanted to raise "a lot of money" for the theater company.

"I wanted to make sure they were top quality," she said.
"Picasso at the Lapin Agile," being performed this weekend and next, tackles the what-ifs of a chance meeting between the two geniuses before the world, or even they, knew the depths of their brilliance.

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